Thank goodness I finally have official clarification. I had a feeling this issue wasn’t supposed to be a secret. When I questioned our CEO why this must remain a secret he told me it was because we are negotiating a lease agreement. My edition of Roberts Rules and Ohio Revised Code states that lease agreements should NOT be discussed in executive session. The discussion regarding oil/gas wells being installed on our public lands should be discussed in public. I mean after all it’s the public that will have to put up with the noise of drilling, the smell of construction, issues of safety, and property value depreciation. But because lease agreements have always been discussed in private in the past, everyone assumes it’s OK. It’s not. I don’t want this to come up for a vote without sufficient time for input from the public. As usual things are being set up behind closed doors to keep you from having time to react before decisions are set in stone.
I’ve been asking for weeks about this issue and waiting for it to appear on the agenda. The board was asked about letting the CEO know what our feelings were regarding letting the CF Foundation handle the well issue, including the profits. I did not respond to this request for good reason. I felt it was an illegal vote. But once our CEO heard back from some members he moved ahead with this plan. Now I am being accused of voicing concerns after the fact and when wheels are already in motion. This is moving forward without public notice, discussion or a formal board vote. After discussing this issue with the board attorney I decided it was time to blog about it. The board attorney could provide no reasoning that supported keeping this confidential. In fact he provided me with some past insight that I found useful. A former long time CF superintendent hatched this idea 20 years ago or more. It didn’t have any community support back then and I think the administration knows it still wont. Why else would you try to keep a hot potato like this in the back of the oven?
Safety- Who gets sued? Us that’s who. The taxpayer. Think about how many of our properties double as soccer fields, baseballs fields, and parks. What kind of temptation do oil/gas wells pose? I experienced first hand last week at a friends’ house. There is a well on the property they own. My boys’ hopped out of the car and went straight for it. What fun could be had on this mechanical contraption? My 7 year old saw an amusement park ride, my future mechanical engineer saw parts, and his 9 year old friend saw something that needed to be vandalized. He asked if there was spray paint left over from the derby car. 9 years old!
Another thing about this issue is generally when you sign these leases you are also giving up mineral rights. If coal is found…well let’s not even go there. Just make sure to contact you friendly local board member and voice your concerns or support. I sure want to know what you think about them, I’m sure the rest of the board does too.
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6 comments:
Please allow me to recommend a decision making process for evaluating the idea of leasing school property to drill a gas/oil well.
We have a number of engineers living in our community from Goodyear who have some personal experience with this idea. I know that Goodyear had a gas/oil well on their property. I was not personally involved with this project -- so I do not know details.
The decision making process needs to focus on creative/critical thinking first. After we have thought about (analized) it, we can summarize our thoughts with a feeling and make informed choices.
But, please let us not be lead into allegations, conspiracy theories and trashing people. Let us focus on the useful action and the creation of positive choices.
Lou Schott lschott@neo.rr.com
Yes, All of the concerns (tangible and intangible) need to be documented. It is a decision with some risk.
Also, the decision needs to consider the end of life for the well. Who cleans up when the well is dead? What are the EPA considerations? What about the cost of insurance?
lschott@neo.rr.com
Yes, I see 3 of our BOE leaders currently paired. At the same time 'all things' change.
The process of initiating and maintaining positive change must focus on solving our mutual problems. If we focus on our differences then we will never have the opportunity to discuss our similarities.
Asking people to resign and then asking them to agree with our feelings is likely to freeze people into a position where they must defend their feelings.
The alternative is to recognize that we have what we have. The alternative is to identify those problems that we can influence in a positive manner.
For over 50 years the West was locked into a cold war with the USSR. Then came Gorbachev who almost got himself killed by his own people -- when he started to 'glasnost' with the West.
Please, let us defer our judgments and collect the facts -- first. If nothing else, our 'cooperative problem solving process' will be useful practice for HUGE problems -- like global warming.
Lou 330-923-9328
Leslie,
Maybe that's just it, the Newberry/Bolich neighborhood has paid enough for the financial shortcomings of the school district. That park/school property is one of the largest, mostly unspoiled pieces of land in this city. We have a right to keep it that way, particularly if the money won't even be going into the district's general fund and won't help us as taxpayers.
Please allow me to try and explain how we might begin to influence each other in a positive manner.
Let me start by explaining two dynamics. 1. Some of us feel first and think secondly. 2. Others of us think first and feel secondly. Both dynamics have utility.
The ability to use #1 or #2 SUCCESSFULLY depends on our environment. For example, if you are a pilot of an aircraft and we are flying through a dangerous storm as per our flight plan (stored thought) then I will likely appreciate you more when you let your feelings of fear tell you to deviate from our flight plan and simply just get out of the storm.
Thus, we will find ourselves in a new location (un-planned) in the universe. In summary, this application of 'feeling first and thinking second' has high value.
However, within the parameters of the problems we must solve in forums like this, we have the time and our environment requires us to 'think first and feel second'.
More on 'thinking first' -- later.
Lou Schott lschott@neo.rr.com
Fallswatcher,
I am absolutely for helping our CFHS graduates pay for their college education. My daughter is now one of those graduates, and my family is facing its first college tuition bill next month.
However, through the PFE community forums, what the public said to the steering committee and the district was to find resources other than property tax levies to raise money. Turning the profits from the well over to the CFF does not meet that expectation from the community because the money will not be used for the same things that our property tax dollars cover.
Beyond that, there will potentially be a price to the homeowners in the Bolich/Newberry area in loss of property value. Every neighborhood in this community has the right to have their property values protected and not sacrificed so that a private foundation can offer additional scholarships, especially when that foundation doesn’t even own the land.
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